jacob_m

The seat

The Lufthansa first class seat on the Airbus A340 isn’t perhaps among the latest generations of first class seats, but it’s still reasonably competitive in the airline industry.

On the A340 the first class cabin has a 1-2-1 configuration with two rows of seats.
Having travelled in Lufthansa F on the Boeing 747 I can only say I’d prefer the A340 any day over the B747.
The cabin on the A340 feels much more modern and exclusive and the seat is definitely both more spacious and private.
If you wish to get some sleep the seat can be reclined to a fully horizontal 80” bed during the night.
The seat also has a rather impressive seat pitch of 85” meaning a massive amount of legroom.

However what mostly impressed me about the seat was all the storage available.
The largest storage space is located in the armrest of the seat and could easily take my laptop when I did not want to use it during the flight.
There was also a drawer in the seat where I could place my shoes as well as a small holder for a bottle of water.



All the features of the seat are also described in a folder located in the seat storage.



The IFE onboard had full AVOD, however the screen in first class is quite small, I believe it is even smaller than the screen available in business class.
The selection of movies, TV-series and documentaries wasn’t very spectacular either.





Some sleep onboard

After the incredible meal service I was really looking forward to some sleep.

I went to the lavatory to change into my pyjamas and during that time the FA proactively started to prepare my seat for the night.
As I wrote earlier the Lufthansa first class seat can be made fully horizontal, they don’t have proper mattresses onboard but the FA got an extra duvet which she used as a sheet.

The pyjamas provided onboard in first class were quite comfortable, but the top was way too large for me so I only used the lower part of the pyjamas as well as a t-shirt.



I fell asleep almost immediately and slept like a baby for 6 hours without waking up a single time.
I guess the long work week still had an effect on me, this time in a positive way as it was probably not more than 7 pm German time when I went to bed.

Breakfast

I woke up around two hours before landing, just like most other passengers.
The FAs were already up and greeted all newly awake passengers with a cheery good morning, a hot towel and a glass of nice orange juice.
I was also offered a cup of coffee.



Around 90 minutes before landing the breakfast service started.
White table cloths were once again placed on the tables and a new menu was handed out with the breakfast options.



Here is the menu for the breakfast service:

After the table had been prepared the FA passed through the cabin with a cart containing different breakfast items such as fresh fruits, cold cuts, yoghurt and cereals.

I asked for the plate of cold cuts and some fresh fruits.
A nice selection of bread rolls and croissants were also offered from a basket.



Another very nice part of the breakfast service (actually the dinner service as well) was the butter which had “First Class” written.



One other passenger in first class apparently asked the FA if he could get a glass of champagne with the breakfast. He could, and the bottle was once again put on display on the bar counter.
Seeing this I couldn’t resist doing the same thing, get off to a nice start of the day with some bubbles, after all I was holiday! So eventually a glass of chilled Piper Heidsieck ended up on my table.

The FA was soon back at my seat and asked me if I wanted the hot breakfast as well.
As I had a long day coming I accepted the offer and asked for some bacon and scrambled eggs. It was quite tasty actually and garnished with some nice herbs.



After a last cup of coffee and a fresh Danish from the oven my table was finally cleared.

Arrival in Japan

Just as the breakfast service had ended we started our descent towards Narita airport and I went to the lavatory to change back to my regular clothes.
In the meantime the FA removed the bed clothes from my seat in preparation for landing.

Back at my seat the purser passed once again to thank every passenger for flying Lufthansa and to make sure we had enjoyed the flight.
He was a nice man, but the farewell part felt very rushed, seemed like he was in quite a hurry.

The female FA who had mostly served in the cabin during the flight also came to say good-bye and to check we were happy with the flight and the service.
I gave her my full compliments for an excellent inflight experience.
I asked her for how long they were going to stay in Tokyo and she said they were only going to stay two days. Unfortunately they had to stay at a hotel not far from Narita airport (quite a distance from Tokyo city), in a boring place where there was absolutely to do, so she had brought lots of books and DVDs.



We arrived in the Tokyo area from the north flying southwards. Then a sharp right turn followed over the water to align with runway 34 for landing.
Quite a nice view during the final minutes of the flight and I actually managed to spot Narita airport in the far distance.

We finally landed at 11.15 am on runway 34L at Tokyo Narita airport, five minutes ahead of timetable.
The Airbus A340-600 is a large plane and it takes a fair amount of time for the aircraft to taxi to its stand. The captain certainly didn’t use more power than he had to.



We were safely parked at the gate 10 minutes after landing and the passengers in first class were obviously the first ones to get off the aircraft.
Inside the passenger bridge a number of ground staff were waiting, I am pretty sure most of them were waiting for some Hon Circle members on the plane as I saw passengers being escorted from the gate behind me.

I had read that immigration at Narita can be a bit of a pain if you arrive at one of the busier times during the day, so imagine my surprise when I arrive as the first person from the flight, at a completely deserted immigration. The staff were having a break and had to rush to their desks to meet the passengers.
A friendly “visitor’s guide” gave me a warm “Welcome to Japan” at the entrance and directed me to an empty desk where they also took a photo of me and asked for my finger prints.

The baggage delivery started very quickly and the HON priority tag worked absolutely flawlessly. My bag was the sixth to arrive on the belt, they arrived at a time when the last passengers had probably not even left the aircraft yet.




Knowing there was a Narita Express leaving in just a few minutes I rushed towards the station, quickly bought a ticket and barely made it to the 11.45 am departure to Tokyo station.

In less than 20 minutes after leaving the aircraft I was on my way to central Tokyo, and that’s including immigration, baggage reclaim, customs, and purchase of a train ticket.
Really impressive! The next train was not leaving for another 30 minutes...

Verdict

I guess you have already figured out I found this to be a truly great flight.
A fantastic crew, a wonderful genuine warm inflight service, an incredible meal service, a spotless and very well-maintained cabin onboard, and a very comfortable seat for a good night’s sleep.

Everything was just perfect! And if you add other things such as the priority tag that worked to perfection in Tokyo, the limo transfer in Frankfurt, and the wonderful first class lounges in Frankfurt and Munich before departure, I guess you can understand this was one of the best days of flying in my life.

But as for the flight, I think the most important aspect of it was that the crew had really understood what first class flying is really all about.
It’s not about drinking (or serving) 10 glasses of expensive champagne just because you can, or serving as many dishes as possible to beat a competitor. No, it’s about elegance and modesty in every part of the service, focusing on the right things in the right amounts.
And they did just that, and I guess I really made best use of it.

A great effort by Lufthansa! And I guess I might send that letter of compliment anyway, without the name...